de la salle lipa integrated school research journal

DE LA SALLE LIPA INTEGRATED SCHOOL RESEARCH JOURNAL SY 2015-2016

DLSL-Integrated School Research Journal VOLUME 3, ISSUE NO. 1

All information mentioned in each article reflects the stance of the contributors. Thus, they are solely responsable for whatever claims they have made in their write-ups.

OFFICE OF THE RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS Jose C. Macatangay

Efforts were made to acknowledge all copyrighted materials that have been used in this issue. If in case, the sources were inadvertently missed, please notify the Editorial Board so appropriate action or rectification can be done for the subsequent issue.

Research and Publication Officer

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any format by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the Publisher.

Marife D. Malaluan

Published by the Office of the Research and Publications, through the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academics and Research, De La Salle Lipa.

Shiela E. Maloles Evaluation and Monitoring Officer

Technical Staff

Gina M. Dimaano Director

Alicia B. Botardo Ph. D. Vice Chancellor for Academics and Research

THE EDITORIAL BOARD DLSL-IS Office of the Research and Publications 3/F Sen. Diokno Hall De La Salle Lipa 1962 J.P. Laurel National Highway Lipa City 4217, Philippines

FOREWORD

Responding

to the call of educational reform, innovation, and development, De La Salle Lipa’s faculty and staff stood firm and unyielding in pursuing greater heights as each member yearns to contribute to the improvement of the varied academic fields /areas. In achieving such, most of the IS members are taking the challenge as they work on with the varied areas each has been interested in. This research endeavor has helped the Integrated School academic community to be more creative, innovative, and relevant as the results proved helpful in their teaching as well as in the administrators’ informed decision-making. The amazing skills of the members in unearthing possibilities out of the ordinary events and in carrying out the tedious and meticulous tasks of examining every detail of varied topics is truly inspiring. Thus, a contagious desire of unravelling issues out of the very basic experiences has been prevalent in the community. This desire is brought not only within the school limits, but it even goes beyond the regional, national, and even the international communities. Concretizing the members’ aspiration of sharing the results of their studies is the major task of the Integrated School Research Journal. Hence, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to those instrumental in the completion of this issue. May this volume serve as an inspiration for others to continue their quest in leaving a legacy to the educational advancement and improvement that eventually would benefit our students, who are our children as well. For the future of our children, let us keep the ANIMO burning!

VIOLETA I. REMO Editor-in-Chief

Table of Content

Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa 1 Middle Level Administrators Ms. Haidee M. Angeles Social Loafing in the 13 High School Classroom Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles Reading Comprehension Performance of 29 Grade 6 Pupils in Social Studies using Informative Text in Filipino (L1) and English (L2) Ms. Rosalinda D. Cornejo Reading Profile and Motivation of 39 DLSL Grade 7 Students Ms. Analiza A. Frane Enhancing the Interpersonal Skills of Grade 10 Students in 61 Economics Class Through Structured Cooperative Works Ms. Eva G. Jonson Mga Hamon sa Pangkatang Gawain sa Filipino 5: 79 Rekomendasyon sa Pagpapaunlad ng Output sa Asignatura Ms. Rizza R. Limbo Ebalwasyon ng PLUMA sa Pagsulat sa Pagpapaunlad 97 ng Kasanayan ng mga Mag-aaral sa Ikaanim na Baitang Ms. Leah P. Sebuc

Ms. Haidee M. Angeles

Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa Middle Level Administrators By: Haidee M. Angeles

Abstract:

Leadership in school has been considered as a crucial factor in educational reform. Because the middle level administrators in the basic education are the ones directly implementing educational reforms in the school setting, it is deemed important to investigate the leadership styles of middle level administrators and compare them with the leadership style highly correlated with success in the context of education. Thus, this study on the leadership styles of De La Salle Lipa middle level administrators was conducted. Using the MLQ Form 6 S, quantitative data were generated through a survey administered among all of the 30 middle level administrators of De La Salle Lipa. It was found that most of the middle level administrators are transformational leaders. Implications for future research and professional development of teachers were discussed.

1.0. INTRODUCTION The advent of the 21st century has been characterized by massive globalization and changes in economic, political, and educational policies all over the world. In 2010, Europe fully implemented the Bologna Accord which aims to provide tools to connect national educational systems, improve transparency between higher educational systems, and facilitate recognition of degrees and academic qualifications, mobility, and exchanges between institutions (Sursock & Smidt, 2010). Similarly, in the Asia-Pacific region, countries rally behind the ASEAN 2015 which is geared toward the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which envisions the following key characteristics: (a) a single market and production base, (b) a highly competitive economic region, (c) a region of equitable economic development, and (d) a region fully integrated into the global economy (ASEAN Secretariat, 2014).

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Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa Middle Level Administrators

Both of the aforementioned major changes have considerable impact on the strategic planning of the Philippine government, more especially because they have a significant effect on our labor force—the primary lifeblood of our economy. Because education has always been regarded as the key to national development and progress, the Philippine government considers educational reform as a key response to the aforementioned changes. Thus, in the Philippines, a drastic change in the educational system has been initiated through the implementation of the RA 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Program Act of 2013--despite the efforts of some critics to block its implementation. According to DepED Discussion Paper for K to 12 Implementation (2010, p. 3-5), the primary reasons for the aggressive move to implement the said educational reform include the following: 1. Enhancing the quality of basic education is urgent and critical. 2. The poor quality of education is reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino students. 3. International test results like the 2003 TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) have indicated that Filipino students lag behind students of other countries in terms of academic achievement. 4. The congested curriculum partly explains the present state of education. 5. This quality of education is reflected in the inadequate preparation of high school graduates for the world of work or entrepreneurship or higher education. 6. Most graduates are too young to enter the labor force. Thus, high school graduates of the present curriculum who do not pursue higher education would be unproductive or be vulnerable to exploitative labor practices. Those who May be interested to set up business cannot legally enter into contracts. 7. The current system also reinforces the misperception that basic education is just a preparatory step for higher education. 8. Because of our 10 year education program, our graduates are not automatically recognized as professionals abroad. They face mutual recognition problem in other countries because most countries view the ten year education program as insufficient as implied by the Washington Accord and Bologna Accord. 9. The short basic education program affects the human development of the Filipino children. 10. The ASEAN 2015 necessitates that our education should be at par with other ASEAN nations. 11. The 1987 Constitution clearly states that "The State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society."

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Ms. Haidee M. Angeles

Moreover, historical records show that as early as 1925, the Monroe Survey had already seen that the ten year education program in the Philippines did not prepare for life and the survey recommended training in agriculture, commerce, and industry. Likewise, the Monroe Survey as well as the subsequent surveys that followed it recommended that additional years in the secondary education be added to enhance the quality of education. Hence, K to12 Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) has been designed to create a functional basic education system that will produce productive and responsible citizens equipped with the essential competencies and skills for both life-long learning and employment. Like in any other country in which educational reform is being implemented, the Philippines is now faced with the challenge of ensuring that the implementation of the K to 12 will be successful. Thus, all efforts are now geared toward studying the different factors that will lead to the attainment of the educational goals. Interestingly, Marzano (2003) highlights the crucial role of leadership in school reforms as he claims that “leadership could be considered the single most important aspect of the effective school reform.” Correspondingly, a considerable number of studies on principal and dean leadership have been conducted (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004; Thrash, 2012; Bumatay, 2004; Juacalla, 2007). A survey of the literature on leadership in the educational setting reveals that the studies on school leadership have focused largely on the front-line managers of the schools. Thus, the existing literature abounds with studies on the leadership styles of principals and deans and the effects of their leadership and management skills on student achievement (Leithwood, et al., 2004; Thrash, 2012). Apparently, there is a dearth of literature focusing on the leadership styles of the middle level administrators (assistant principals, curriculum coordinators, and grade moderators) who directly implement and supervise the implementation of educational reforms in the school setting. As the Philippines gears toward the implementation of the Enhanced Basic Education Curriculum as mandated by RA 10533, there is a need for school leaders to manifest the leadership style that best supports the implementation of the changes in curriculum and instruction. According to Bryman (2007), the best leadership style that brings about and sustains systematic educational reforms is the transformational leadership. Thus, this study on the leadership style of the middle level administrators has been conceptualized. This study described the current leadership style of the middle level administrators in De La Salle Lipa Integrated School. Subsequently, these data could be used to determine the professional development program to be provided to them in order to ensure that they will acquire the transformational leadership style needed to effectively implement the changes entailed by the recent development in the Philippine educational system.

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Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa Middle Level Administrators

Specifically, this research sought to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of DLSL middle level administrators in terms of the following? a. age b. gender c. educational attainment 2. What are the leadership styles of the middle level administrators? 3. Is there a significant difference in the distribution of the middle level administrators’ leadership styles across age, gender, and educational attainment?

2.0. METHODS This study used the quantitative research design. Survey was administered to generate data pertaining to the leadership styles of the respondents. There was a total enumeration of the 30 middle level administrators connected to the basic education unit of De La Salle Lipa who participated in the study. Permission to conduct the survey was sought from the Integrated School Principal. Then, the researcher personally distributed the survey questionnaires among the participants. Instructions on how to answer the survey were clearly explained to the participants. Finally, the survey questionnaires were collected by the researcher. The Multi-factor Leadership Questionnaire Short Form, 6 S (MLQ Form, 6 S) developed by Bass and Avolio (1992, as cited in Vinger & Cilliers, 2006) was used in this study. The MLQ Form 6 S measures leadership style on seven factors that correspond to three leadership styles namely transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and passive/avoidant leadership. The transformational leadership style consists of idealized influence, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation. Transactional leadership consists of contingent reward while passive/avoidant leadership is composed of management-by-exception (passive) and laissez-faire leadership (Munaf, 2011). Scoring of the MLQ Form 6 S is done by summing the scores of items for each specified factor and dividing the total with the number of items for the specified factor. Frequency and percentages were used to analyze the data generated through the administration of the survey questionnaire.

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Ms. Haidee M. Angeles

To test if the distribution of each leadership style is significantly different across age and gender, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. In addition, to test if the distribution of each leadership style is significantly different across educational attainment, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used. To determine the dominant leadership style of each respondent, the scoring procedure indicated in the MLQ Form 6 S was followed. First, the score for each factor was determined by adding the responses for the items under each factor. Next, the scores for each of the factors under each leadership style were added and divided by the number of factors. The distribution of items across factors can be seen in Appendix A. Scores ranging from 0-4 were considered low, 5-8 were considered moderate, and 9-12 were considered high. Respondents were categorized based on their high scores. That is, those who scored high in transformational leadership style were categorized as transformational leaders, those who scored high in transactional leadership style were categorized as transactional leaders, and those who scored high in passive/avoidant leadership style were categorized as passive/avoidant leaders.

3.0. RESULTS Figure 1 presents the distribution of the participants across age.

AGE 60

Percent

50 40 30 20 10 0 31-40

Age

41-50

Figure 1. Distribution of Participants Across Age As can be seen in Figure 1, there are more middle level administrators who are aged 40 years old and above compared to those who are aged below 40 years old. This indicates that teachers chosen to become middle level administrators are in their 40s.

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Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa Middle Level Administrators

Figure 2 presents the distribution of the participants across gender.

GENDER 80

Percent

60 40 20

0 Male

Female

Figure 2. Distribution of Participants Across Gender A glance at Figure 2 reveals that the number of male middle level adminisrators is less than half of the number of female middle level administrators. The distribution of the participants across educational attainment is shown in Figure 3.

EDUCATION

90 80 70

Percent

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree

PHD

Figure 3. Distribution of Participants Across Educational Attainment

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Ms. Haidee M. Angeles

Based on the data presented in Figure 3, it is very apparent that majority of the middle level administrators of De La Salle Lipa hold master’s degree.

Figure 4 presents the leadership styles of De La Salle Lipa middle level administrators.

Leadership Styles of DLSL Middle Administrators 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Transformational

Transactional

Passive/Avoidance

Figure 4. Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa Middle Level Administrators

A closer look at Figure 4 reveals that the leadership styles of the DLSL middle level include transfomational leadership, transactional leadership, and passive/avoidance leadership. Most of the DLSL middle level administrators are transformational leaders. However, there are some who perceive themselves as having passive/avoidance leadership style, the leadership style which is negatively associated with success in educational reforms (Munaf, 2011).

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Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa Middle Level Administrators

Table 1 presents the results of the Mann-Whitney U test for the age variable.

Table 1. Results of Mann-Whitney U Test for Age Hypothesis Test Summary Null Hypothesis

Test

Sig.

Decision

1

The distribution of Transformational is the same across categories of AGE

Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U Test

.110

Reject the null hypothesis.

2

The distribution of Transactional is the same across categories of AGE

Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U Test

.488

Retain the null hypothesis.

3

The distribution of PassiveAvoidance is the same across categories of AGE

Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U Test

.800

Retain the null hypothesis.

Asymptotic significancies are displayed. The significance level is .05. The data in Table 1 indicate that the distribution of transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and passive/avoidance leadership is the same across categories of age. This suggests that the differences in leadership styles of the participants is not a function of age. Table 2 shows the results of the Mann-Whitney U test for the gender variable. Table 2. Results of Mann-Whitney U Test for Gender Hypothesis Test Summary Null Hypothesis

Test

Sig.

Decision

1

The distribution of Transformational is the same across categories of GENDER

Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U Test

.040

Reject the null hypothesis.

2

The distribution of Transactional is the same across categories of GENDER

Independent-Samples Mann-Whitney U Test

.752

Retain the null hypothesis.

3

The distribution of PassiveAvoidance Independent-Samples Retain the null is the same across categories of .309 Mann-Whitney U Test hypothesis. GENDER Asymptomatic significances are displayed. The significance level is .05

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Ms. Haidee M. Angeles

As can be seen in Table 2, there is a significant difference in the distribution of transformational leadership across gender categories. This seems to indicate that transformational leadership is somehow related to gender. However, with regard to transactional and passive/avoidance leadership, the distribution across gender categories is not significant. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test for the educational attainment variable is presented in Table 3. Table 3. Non-parametric Results for Educational Attainment Hypothesis Test Summary Null Hypothesis

Test

Sig.

Decision

1

The distribution of Transformational is the same across categories of EDUCATION

Independent-Samples Kruskal-Wallis Test

.575

Reject the null hypothesis.

2

The distribution of Transactional is the same across categories of EDUCATION

Independent-Samples Kruskal-Wallis Test

.606

Retain the null hypothesis.

3

The distribution of PassiveAvoidance is the same across categories of EDUCATION

Independent-Samples Kruskal-Wallis Test

.141

Retain the null hypothesis.

Asymptotic significancies are displayed. The significance level is .05. Based on the data in Table 3, the distribution of transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style, and passive/avoidance leadership style is the same across educational attainment groups. This means that the difference in the leadership style is not likely to be a function of highest educational attainment.

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Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa Middle Level Administrators

4.0 DISCUSSION The quantitative data generated through this study reveal that most of the participants perceive themselves as transformational leaders. This implies that they are people oriented, capable of caring for and empathizing with their subordinates. They are also gifted with the power to envision the future that they want their departments to have, motivate their subordinates to work for that vision, and encourage the teachers to collaborate and function well as changes in the curriculum, instruction, and other facets of education are implemented. Such type of middle level administrators can very well support the change initiatives espoused by the principal and the top administration. However, almost 30% (8 out of 30) of the middle level administrators perceive their leadership style as passive/avoidance. This indicates that there is a considerable number of middle level administrators who tend to be passive. They are most likely to fail to react analytically to difficult situations, avoid identifying solutions to problems, and avoid clarifying goals to be achieved by their subordinates. In short, there are some middle level administrators connected to the basic education of De La Salle Lipa who might bring about negative effect on the functioning of the teachers in their respective departments (Munaf, 2011).

5.0. CONCLUSION Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn. First, most of the middle level administrators of De La Salle Lipa are aged 41-50 years old; most of them are female; and most of them hold a master’s degree. Second, 50% of the middle level administrators of De La Salle Lipa have transformational leadership style--the leadership style that is correlated with success in bringing about systematic and sustainable educational reforms (Bryman, 2007). However, the leadership style of the rest of the middle level administrators is either transactional or passive/avoidance—leadership styles that are not correlated with success in bringing about educational change. Finally, the distribution of leadership styles across age, gender, and education is the same; except for transformational leadership style, the distribution of which significantly differs across gender.

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Ms. Haidee M. Angeles

6.0. RECOMMENDATIONS Undoubtedly, this study has shed light on the leadership styles of the middle level administrators who are actually the key implementers of curricular and instructional reforms in the basic education of De La Salle Lipa. In the light of the aforementioned findings, it is suggested that De La Salle Lipa middle level administrators be provided with professional development trainings that will help them significantly reduce their tendency to manifest passive/avoidance leadership style and increase their inclination toward transformational leadership. Further, to validate the findings of this study, it is recommended that future research on this area use a triangulation of methods. Focus group discussion with the participants together with an interview with their subordinates may be done.

REFERENCES ASEAN Secretariat. (2014). ASEAN Economic Community. Retrieved November 29, 2014 from http://www.asean.org/communities/asean-economic-community. Bryman, A. (2007). Effective leadership in higher education: A literature review. Studies in Higher Education, 32(6). Bumatay, E. (2004). Leadership in higher education: Perspectives of Filipino academic deans. Juacalla, M. (2007). Networking and managerial skills of deans and program implementers and the effectiveness of organizational linkages in selected higher technological educational institutions in CALABARZON. Leithwood, K., Louis, K., Anderson, S., & Wahlstorm, K. (2004). Learning form leadership project: How leadership influences student learning.

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Leadership Styles of De La Salle Lipa Middle Level Administrators

Marzano, R.J. (2003). What works in schools: Translating research into action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Munaf, S. (2011). Teacher’s quality performance as a function of management style in higher educational instructions. Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences. Retrieved November 15, 2014 from http://www.japss.org Onorato, M. (2013). Transformational leadership style in the educational sector: An empirical study of corporate managers and educational leaders. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 17(1). Sursock, A., & Smidt, H. (2010). Trends 2010: A decade of change in European higher education. Retrieved November 29, 2014 from http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/2010_conference/documents/EUA_Trend s_2010.pdf Thrash, A. (2012). Leadership in higher education. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(13). Vinger, G., & Cilliers, F. (2006). Effective transformational leadership behaviors for managing change. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 4(2), 1-9.

Haidee M. Angeles has been a teacher of English in the Integrated School since 1995. She has also been a part-time College Instructor at the College of Education, Arts, and Sciences of De La Salle Lipa. She also served as the Research Coordinator of the De La Salle Lipa Integrated School from school year 2008-2009 to school year 2012-2014. Her research interests include language and learning and intercultural communication.

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Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles

Social Loafing in the High School Classroom By: Wenifredo F. Angeles

Abstract:

The popularity of cooperative learning as one of the strategies used in learnercentered teaching has brought the attention of researchers to the social phenomenon called social loafing—the tendency of some group members to leave the responsibility of accomplishing the group tasks to the other members of the group. Critics of cooperative learning claim that social loafing is a real problem in the classroom that tends to be overshadowed by the benefits derived from using the cooperative learning strategy. Thus, this action research is an attempt to investigate if the phenomenon called social loafing or free riding really exists in high school classrooms, and if it does exist, what strategies can be used to reduce the occurrence of social loafing or free-riding.

1.0. INTRODUCTION

“Teacher, what should we do to our members who don’t help us in doing our task?” “Is he going to have the same grade even if he didn’t contribute anything?” “Can you remove her from our group? She’s such a good-for-nothing member!”

Thus go the typical sentiments that students bombard some teachers whenever the latter give them group activities. Such is the set of symptoms of social loafing or free-riding—the tendency of some group members to reduce individual effort when working with groupmates (Piezon & Ferree, 2007)—a phenomenon that appears to be a real today’s classroom, most especially now that group work has become an integral component of basic education.

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Social Loafing in the High School Classroom

Two decades ago, teachers of De La Salle Lipa have started noticing that whenever they would ask students to work in a group, some members would just passively observe the others working hard and wait for the hardworking ones to complete the task. Back then, the teachers’ tendency was simply to avoid group works and provide students with more individual tasks. However, the recent changes in the Philippine educational system—the UbD implementation and the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum implementation necessitate the need to shift from a teacher-centered teaching paradigm to a learnercentered teaching paradigm. Correspondingly, the learner-centered teaching paradigm implies that the learners be given considerable opportunities to work collaboratively in groups in order to acquire the “valuable teamwork experience and enhance abilities such as communication and group skills” which are necessary as they work on workplace projects in the future (Hall & Buzwell, 2012). Thus, simply doing away with group work in order to avoid the reality of social loafing or free-riding in the classroom seems to be an inappropriate option. Fortunately, upon reading existing research articles on social loafing, the researcher became aware that he is not alone in this struggle with social loafing in the classroom. Apparently, the phenomenon of social loafing or free-riding in the classroom has caught the attention of researchers since the popularity of learner-centered teaching began to soar in recent decades. To illustrate, North, Linley, and Hargreaves (2000) investigated social loafing or free-riding in a cooperative classroom task. The result of their experiment indicated that this tendency for individuals to reduce their own personal input when performing group task is significantly evident in larger groups than in smaller groups. Succeeding studies on social loafing or free-riding in the classroom revealed that this phenomenon might not always be due to the student’s feeling of inadequacy which leads them to believe that their lack of contribution may not be noticed; rather; it might also be attributed to the strategies utilized by teachers when asking students to work in groups (Dommeyer, 2007). Hence, a number of research studies were conducted to investigate how social loafing in college classrooms can be reduced if not totally eradicated. To illustrate, Aggarwal and O’Brien (2008) tried embedding group management techniques into the project’s coursework and found that such techniques help students address the underlying issues of social loafing or free-riding in the classroom. Another factor that has been posited to contribute to social loafing is the perceived value of individual contribution to group task. According to Karau and Williams (1993), members of a group are less likely to exert effort in completing a group task if they do not perceive their individual contribution as meaningful or significant to the completion of the group task. This theory was supported by the data that Liden, Wayne, Jaworski, and Bennet (2004) generated through their field investigation on social loafing.

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Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles

Similarly, assessment has been perceived as a key factor in addressing social loafing in class. Cheng and Warren (2000) investigated how peer assessment of individual student’s contributions to a group project influence social loafing and found that peer assessment is a potent tool to encourage individual group member to contribute more for the completion of a group task. On a similar note, Liden et al, (2004) and Karau & Williams (1993) found that giving group member individual grades that reflect the amount or effort that they contributed in accomplishing group task rather than giving the members of the group similar grades is more likely to reduce social loafing in class. Further, some research investigations also focused on the style of grouping as an antecedent that contributes to the development of social loafing (Aggarwal and O’Brien, 2008; Michaelson, Fink, & Knight, 1997; Bacon, Stewart, & Silver, 1999). The results of these research studies suggested that teachers should carefully plan the groupings of students rather than simply grouping students randomly. In a nutshell, the existing literature on social loafing in class seems to link social loafing to selfregulated learning, particularly the students’ management and control of their effort on classroom academic tasks. This means that somehow, the occurrence of social loafing is dependent on the students’ knowledge and belief regarding the importance of their group participation to the accomplishment of the task and to their personal learning and the connection between the quality and quantity of their contribution and the intrinsic and extrinsic rewards that they expect (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). Moreover, the existing literature suggests several methods/strategies that can be used in the classroom such as utilizing group management techniques, using peer assessment and assessment based on distributive justice, manipulating student grouping, and increasing student’ perceived individual contribution. Apparently, the aforementioned research investigation was all done with college participants. There seems to be a dearth of literature involving high school students. Hence, this study-which aimed to investigate if social loafing really occurs in the high school classroom, and if it does, what strategies would help in reducing social loafing in high school classroom— was conceptualized. Specifically, this study would like to answer the following questions: 1. What is the students’ perception of group work? 2. Are the students aware of social loafing whenever they work in groups? 3. What is their perception regarding the giving of similar grades to member of each group? 4. Which strategies will reduce social loafing in the classroom?

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Social Loafing in the High School Classroom

Conceptual Framework Figure 1 shows the conceptual framework that was used in conducting this study.

Figure 1. Action Research Process As can be seen in Figure 1, this action research investigating the social loafing phenomenon in the high school classroom consisted of four phases—planning, acting, reflecting, and planning again. During the initial phase, the focus of the study based on the teacher’s observation was identified. The initial data that obtained from a survey conducted among the students and the insights derived from the existing literature on social loafing in the classroom helped in the identification of the focus of the study, too. Then, based on the initial findings, an action plan to address social loafing in the classroom was designed. Upon implementing the action plan, observation of and reflection on the changes in the behavior of the students were done. Then, the analysis of the results of the implementation of the action plan was done to figure out how the said action plan could be revised.

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Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles

2.0. METHODS To answer the specific questions, the steps below were followed. First, the current state of social loafing in the classroom was examined by asking the students to answer a 7-item questionnaire that the researcher made. Interview with some students was also conducted. Next, based on the data generated through the survey questionnaire, scaffolds in which strategies intended to reduce social loafing in the performance task were designed and implemented. Then, the researcher observed the changes in the behavior of the students as strategies aimed at reducing social loafing were implemented. Finally, to analyze the data gathered, coding and tabulating of the data were done. Hence, due to the nature of this research, the qualitative approach was used.

3.0. RESULTS To understand the phenomenon of social loafing in the classroom, the researcher deemed it important to know the students’ perception of group work, their feelings whenever they are asked to work in groups, the benefits they consider from working in groups, the problems they perceive when working in groups, the extent to which they tend to contribute when they know that group members will have a similar group grade, the extent to which they contribute when they know that members of the group will be graded individually, and their idea on what their teachers could do to improve students’ group work experiences. In order to see the current state of the social loafing in the researcher’s class, the students were asked to answer a teacher-made survey questionnaire. The teacher also conducted interviews among some students. After gathering the data pertinent to the current state of social loafing in the classroom, the data were coded, and the responses for every question were grouped.

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Social Loafing in the High School Classroom

Table 1 presents the students’ perception of group work.

Students’ Thoughts About Group Work



        

Students’ Feelings About Group Work



 



   

Table 1. Students’ Perception of Group Work Group work is beneficial for students when all the members contribute, yet it is a painful experience when group mates do not help in the accomplishment of tasks and depend on the “working” member/s instead. For leaders, group work is unfair because it promotes dependence on students with skills/and others get grades even without exerting effort. Group work is needed to prepare the students for the world of work. Group work facilitates learning and accomplishment of students’ task. Group work facilitates enhancement of social skills and individual abilities. Group work is a venue for intelligent students to help academically-challenged classmates to learn difficult lessons. Group work helps develop the spirit of teamwork. Group work is a “privilege” to know others, exchange ideas with others, and help others and learn from them as well. Group work is a waste of time when members do not participate or help in the accomplishment of tasks. Group work promotes unity among members. Group work is fun if every member contributes and participates in the accomplishment of tasks, but it is frustrating if other members do not cooperate and contribute to accomplish the tasks. Group work is disgusting because there are lots of dependent members. Group work makes some students feel worried about the low quality of outcome that the group may produce because of the presence of uncooperative/unproductive members. Group work is exciting because it provides students a venue to collaborate in order to produce a good output; it is a chance to exchange views and opinions with other members and have fun while learning with peers. Group work gives happiness especially to the students who need help from those who know much; it gives a venue for socialization. Group work gives happiness because it “lessens students’ effort” and “there are persons to lean on”. Group work gives students a feeling of relief because “they do not have to do the task alone”. Group work makes some students feel nervous about the kind of the group mates they might have.

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Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles

Perceived Advantages of Group Work

Perceived Disadvantages of Group Work

Group work is beneficial because  “It gives new ideas to every member and it strengthens the relationship of each other as classmates”. It allows members to share their ideas, insights, and opinions.  It develops social skills and promotes unity and cooperation.  It promotes a sense of responsibility, cooperation, and “bonding” with groupmates”.  It lightens the work.  Convenience  It makes “the task be done faster and easier”  “It improves student’s way of expressing and sharing their thoughts.” Group work is disadvantageous because  there are students who do not participate and cooperate  there are leaders who dominate the whole group  there are members who just rely on their leader  there are members who are not contributing to the group task  there are leaders who do the job alone without consulting the group and “will judge the members as parasite members”  “less knowledge got”  there are members who fear that they will disappoint other members.  There are members who become dependent to their leader  Unjust distribution of tasks.  Similar grades given to all members  Large group that some members do not contribute to group tasks  Fear that other members have better idea  There are leaders and members who do not consider other ideas or suggestions

As can be seen in Table 1, the students are very much aware of the importance of group work as a component of their structured learning experiences. The responses of the students indicate that group work facilitates learning and the completion of academic tasks. In addition, group work promotes the value of unity, helpfulness, generosity, responsibility, and concern for others. Moreover, group work provides the learners the opportunity to learn from each other, help each other, listen to each other, enjoy the company of each other, and work together for a common goal. These findings were corroborated by the data coming from the interview conducted with some students. In fact one of the interviewees quipped, “Group works help us to become cooperative and these really prepare us in the world of work. As I observe, people in the work places usually work as teams, so we really need group works in class.”

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Social Loafing in the High School Classroom

However, the data in Table 1 also show that despite its apparent advantages, group work sometimes becomes a source of the students’ dissatisfaction. Based on the students’ common responses when prompted to identify the disadvantages of group work, it appears that group work becomes frustrating when their group mates do not cooperate and contribute to the accomplishment of group tasks. This feeling is shared by both the students who usually assume the role of the leader and the students who usually assume the role of a member. Apparently, even without knowing the term “social loafing” or “freeriding”, the students are aware that social loafing or free-riding is a reality in the high school classroom. Interestingly, the data coming from the questionnaire and the interview also reveal that while most leaders seem to think that social loafing or free-riding occurs due to some members’ inherent laziness or unwillingness to contribute, students who have usually assumed the role of being a group member confessed that their reluctance to work harder and contribute to the accomplishment of group task is more often due to their belief that their idea is inferior compared to the idea of the leader or the other members of the group. Moreover, there are times when they feel that “Leaders tend to control and dominate the group and just make members wait for the assignment that the leaders will give”. Table 2 summarizes the students’ view regarding similar group grades and individual grades for group tasks. Table 2. Students’ Thoughts on Group Grading and Individual Grading Tendency of Group Leaders tend to: Members When  Work harder to help the members of the group get a high grade Similar Group  Feel disgusted because there are some who do not contribute and they, too Grade is Given will get the high score  Work hard to ensure that their grades will not be pulled down  Work equally with other members and will not let them do nothing because it is unfair  Do the best no matter what  Contribute much Members tend to:  Work hard because they feel other members will not help  Work hard especially if co-members are not trustworthy  Work less because it is unfair  Work less because of the knowledge that others will contribute  Work less because there some members of the group who know better  Work hard if the other members are lazy and not intelligent; work less if the other members are industrious and smart

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Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles

Tendency of Group Members When Individual Members are Graded Differently

 Do what he/she is told to do; just do the given assignment/part  Work hard if threatened that he/she will be removed from the group  Work hard to ensure a high score  Exert more effort to ensure that everyone gets a higher grade  Participate but not as hard as when the grade is individual Leaders tend to:  Work harder because the grade depends on individual performance  Feel happy because of the fairness  Contribute more effort  Do the best no matter what Members tend to:  Contribute their best because of the individual grade  Work hard and do the best to gain high grade  Feel happy because it is fair  Contribute more “because the score depends on my effort”  Just do the assigned part in the group  Appreciate the fairness because the individual contributions and work of each other would be graded  Be motivated to contribute more and work harder  Cooperate with group mates  Work harder and contribute more but still help the other members

Based on the data presented in Table 2, students who have usually assumed the role of the group leader are compelled to work hard both when they know that they will receive similar group grade and when they know that they will be graded based on their individual performance because they want to attain high grades. However, given the choice, they would prefer to be graded individually because individual grading makes them feel that there is fairness or justice in the classroom. Meanwhile, most students who have usually assumed the role of a group member tend to work harder when they know that their performance will be graded individually. They tend to work less when they know that their work will be graded as a group and the other members of the group are “intelligent and industrious”. However, when they are aware that most of the members of their group are “less intelligent and lazy”, they tend to work harder even if they will receive a similar group grade because they want to have “better output” and “have the grade pulled up”. Nevertheless, both the students who have usually assumed the role of the group leader and the students who have usually assumed the role of a group member feel that individual grading is more

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Social Loafing in the High School Classroom

effective and more just. As one student stated during the interview, “It’s a hassle if you know you will receive similar group grade even if others do not contribute as much as you do or worse, do not contribute at all. It’s like very annoying!” In a nutshell, the students have mixed reactions toward group grading and individual grading of group tasks. This observation seems to suggest that social loafing will not be readily solved by giving individual grades. Social loafing appears to be more related to perceived unfairness, belief that others are better than they are, and feeling that their contribution will not be significant anyway. Subsequently, the students’ suggestion regarding how the teachers can improve the students’ group work experiences were analyzed. Table 3 summarizes the suggestions given by the students. Table 3. Students’ Suggestions for the Improvement of Group Work Suggestions for the Leaders suggest that:  Grouping should be by choice; students should be allowed to choose members Improvement of whom they trust and prefer to work with Students’ Group  Teachers should assign different roles to group members in order for them to Work Experiences have a good output  Teacher should monitor if students in the group are all doing their tasks  Groupings should be kept small; smart people should not be together Members suggest that:  Irresponsible ones should be put together so that they will learn to work hard  Grouping should not be by choice; it should be based on equal distribution of talents  Individual grading should be done  Groups should be small  Grouping should be “half-smart” and “half- a little smart”  Teachers should strictly monitor the contributions of each group member  Grouping should be by choice  Teacher should give each member individual task and monitor if every member contributes fairly  Grouping should be a mixture of lazy or poor mental ability and intelligent and lazy  High performers should be together while poor performers should be together so they will be encouraged to work  Intelligent students should be distributed to different groups

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Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles

A closer look at Table 3 reveals that both the group of students who have usually assumed the role of the group leader and the group of the students who have usually assumed the role of a group member would like to suggest that the group size should be small in order to address the problem of social loafing or free-riding. This suggestion is congruent to the findings of North, Linley, and Hargreaves (2000) social loafing is more evident in larger groups than in smaller groups. Another suggestion similar to both groups of students is for the teacher to assign specific roles to the members of the group. This suggestion runs parallel to the theory of Karau and Williams (1993) and Liden, Wayne, Jaworski, and Bennet (2004) that members of a group are less likely to exert effort in completing a group task if they do not perceive their individual contribution as meaningful or significant to the completion of the group task. Moreover, this suggestion is related to the contention of Pintrich & De Groot (1990) that somehow, the occurrence of social loafing is related to self-regulated learning and is dependent on the students’ knowledge and belief regarding the importance of their participation to the accomplishment of the task. In addition, both groups of students suggest that grouping should be carefully planned and not done randomly. This recommendation is related to the theory that the style of grouping is an antecedent that contributes to the development of social loafing (Aggarwal and O’Brien, 2008; Michaelson, Fink, & Knight, 1997; Bacon, Stewart, & Silver, 1999). Finally, both groups of students suggest that the teacher should be able to monitor the performance of each member. This suggestion is related to the theory that assessment is a key factor in addressing social loafing in class (Cheng and Warren,2000). However, in the context of the students, assessment is focused on gauging how well or how much effort each member of the group contributes to the accomplishment of the task and not so much on how the group task will be graded.

Social Loafing-Reducing Strategies After analyzing the data from the survey and interview, the researcher was convinced that social loafing in his class is a real problem that is connected to social regulated learning, particularly the selfmanagement component. Thus, he decided to integrate the social loafing-reducing strategies that surfaced both in the literature reviewed and the data generated through the survey and the interview conducted among his students to the performance tasks scaffolds that he subsequently gave his students. Among the social loafing-reducing strategies that were specifically used were making groups smaller (each group consisted of only 3-4 members), using peer evaluation instrument, combination of individual and group grading, distributing different talents/skills in the different groups, and close supervision of group work activities. First, the researcher sought the help of the class officers in identifying who among their classmates are good at/interested in writing, graphic design, web design, and music. The information given by the class officers were validated with the subject teachers concerned. Then, the students were distributed into

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Social Loafing in the High School Classroom

groups of five members. The class was informed that such will be their grouping for the rest of the quarter. Next, the students were instructed to work collaboratively. That means, all of them should help in conceptualizing their final output, gathering data to be used in coming up with the final output, critiquing their final output, and doing the necessary modifications. Likewise, the students were instructed to choose their own leader. Also, the students were given peer assessment sheets on which they were to record their assessment of their group mates and their leader at the end of each scaffold. Students were also told that their grade would be based on the results of the peer assessment and the grade of the final group output. During each scaffold, the participation of each member in the task was monitored. At the end of the quarter, the students were asked to write a reflective journal entry about their experience as they worked with their groupmates to accomplish the scaffolds and the final performance task. The following is the table of scaffolds and final performance task that the students were asked to accomplish in groups during the first quarter of school year 2014-2015.

Table 4. Scaffolds and Final Performance Task Scaffold 1: Bible Hunt The five themes—Respect for Human Life, Respect for Private Property, Honesty in Business, and Care for the Poor and the Vulnerable--were given and each group was asked to find biblical passages supporting/related to each theme. Scaffold 2: Making Scripture Alive Each group was asked to have a skit presentation of a biblical story showing one of the five themes. Scaffold 3: Advertising the Theme Each group was asked to create and present a one-minute advertisement of their chosen theme. Scaffold 4: Performance Task: Designing a Web page Promoting a “Just Community” Each group was asked to come up with a web page that promotes or advocates a “just community” using the five themes from the Old Testament. Generally, there was a dramatic change in the behavior of the students as they work in groups to accomplish the scaffolds and the final performance task as attested by the fact that the complaints about group mates who did not contribute or participate did not surface again. Each time the students were

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Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles

asked to work in groups, everybody was on task. The researcher rarely saw a group member who was not busy doing something related to the task.

4.0. DISCUSSION The students’ high level of engagement with their group was observed. The importance of carefully planning not just the lesson plan and the group activities but the style of grouping as well became apparent. Being informed that they would be distributed to different groups because each group needed to have different talents made the students realize that they and their contribution to the group task was important and that thought served as a strong motivation for them to exert more effort and contribute their ideas to accomplish the group task. As one of the students wrote in his reflective journal entry “ I felt excited when Sir said that we will be distributed because of our talents. I thought that I should work hard and use my talent so that our group will have a higher grade. I knew that if I will not do my role as the expert in music, our web page will not have nice presentation because it will be dry without music.” Another student wrote, “My groupmate said I am the best in writing. I had to prove that by really checking everything they wrote before we came up with the paper that we submitted.” Interestingly, a shy boy in class noted, “At first, I did not feel comfortable sharing my ideas. But my groupmates would not go on without me opening my mouth. I felt that they really wanted to hear my thoughts because they said I am the expert in graphic design, so I started sharing even I was shy.” Similarly, it appeared that keeping the group size smaller really reduces social loafing or free riding. The students apparently noticed that, too. As one of them wrote, “I was pressured to contribute more because we were only four in the group. If I didn’t help, it was embarrassing.” Another student shared, “It was easy to notice who was not working, we are only three. Besides, we had goals to finish. Everybody should really help. Unlike before, I could go on relaxing because there were like seven or eight of us in a group.” In addition, the use of peer evaluation instrument kept the members and the leaders on their toes. Informing them that their grade would be based on peer evaluation and the grade of their group output made the students work hard to accomplish the tasks. This observation was succinctly written by a student who assumed the role of a group member, “ For the first time, I enjoyed group work. As in everybody was doing great. The leader was not like some of the leaders before that was so arrogant. She’s like asking us what we have to do and really not deciding alone. Our ideas matter to her. We members were doing all the stuff we had to do. Like all of us contributed biblical passages for the five themes. I was wondering why, but now I know. Maybe all of us were too scared to have low peer assessment grade. Our teacher looked serious when he said it was part of our grades!”

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Social Loafing in the High School Classroom

Finally, the teacher’s close supervision of the group activities mattered much to the students. Instead of the researcher’s usual tendency to leave the groups to work on their own while he stayed at the teacher’s table to check or do some readings, he walked around and checked on each group during the one-hour period. He really looked at what each member of each group was writing or doing at the time he passed by each group. Apparently, such gesture to closely monitor the members’ participation in group activities was noticed by the students. In fact, one of them wrote, “Sir was so visible! How can we relax? It was like he was checking on everything we do. It was my first time to have a teacher like Sir. He made us feel that we have to work every minute.” In general, the strategies used to reduce social loafing or free riding in the classroom contributed to the successful accomplishment of the scaffolds and performance tasks of the students who participated in this study. The researcher’s observations as well as the reflective journal entries of the students indicate that making groups smaller, using peer evaluation instrument, combination of individual and group grading, distributing different talents/skills in the different groups, and close supervision of group work activities contribute to the reduction of the occurrence of social loafing or free-riding in my classroom. However, there are still so much work to be done to improve the action taken to address the social loafing in this study. Hence, the following strategies will be incorporated in the next cycle of this action research. First, individual worksheets will be given to the students before they collaborate and produce a group task. This will help the teacher monitor if each member of the group is really engaged in the group task. Further, the use of individual worksheets will relieve the teacher of the laborious task of literally moving around the classroom to provide “man-to-man” supervision to ensure that each member of each group is on task. Besides, this strategy will also eliminate the probability that the students’ performance in the group activity is not only a function of the strategies that used to reduce social loafing or free-riding but also of the Hawthorne effect, an observation bias characterized by the improved performance of the participants of the study due to their awareness that they are being observed and the positive feeling that they are being singled out and given importance (McCArney, R., Warner, J., Iliffe, S., Van Haselen, R., Griffin, M., & Fisher, P., 2007). Moreover, to increase the validity of the teacher’s observations, there is a need to ask the students to accomplish a structured group task evaluation questionnaire after the accomplishment of the scaffolds and the final performance tasks. The said structured evaluation questionnaire should be validated by experts in the field.

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Mr. Wenifredo F. Angeles

Nevertheless, the researcher’s initial experience in implementing the action plan included in this action research has helped in making him realize that reflective teaching is an integral part of learnercentered teaching, and it is also part and parcel of being a genuine Lasallian teacher committed to the mission of teaching minds, touching hearts, and transforming lives.

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Social Loafing in the High School Classroom

REFERENCES Aggarwal, P., & O’Brien C. L. (2008). Social loafing on group projects: Structural antecedents and effects on student satisfaction. Journal of Marketing Education 30 (3), pp. 255 – 264. Hall, D., & Buzwell, S. (2012). The problem of free-riding in group projects: Looking beyond social loafing as reason for non-contribution. Active Learning in Higher Education, 14 (1), pp. 37 – 47 Karau,S., & Williams, K. (1993). Social loafing: A meta-analytic review and theoretical integration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65 (4), 681 - 706 Liden, R.C., Wayne, S.J., Jaworski, R.A., & Bennet, N. (2004) Social loafing: A field investigation. Journal of Management, 30 (2), 285 – 304 McCArney, R., Warner, J., Iliffe, S., Van Haselen, R., Griffin, M., & Fisher, P. (2007). The hawthorne effect: A randomized controlled trial. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 7(30). Retrieved September 5, 2014 from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/7/30 Piezon, S.L., & Ferree, W.D. (2007). Perception of social loafing in online learning groups. 23rd Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning. Retrieved August 18, 2014 from http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference Pintrich, P. R., & De Groot, E.V. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1), 33-40.

Wenifredo F. Angeles obtained his Master of Arts in Teaching major in youth Ministry in 1999 at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod. He has been teaching Christian Living for 24 years. Moreover he has served as the Curriculum Coordinator of Christian Living department for three years and as the Assistant Principal of the Senior Learning Community for another three years. Currently, he is taking up his second master’s degree-Master of Arts in Learning and Teaching at De La Salle University Manila.

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Ms. Rosalinda D. Cornejo

Reading Comprehension Performance of Grade 6 Students in Social Studies using Informative Text in Filipino (L1) and English (L2) By: Rosalinda D. Cornejo

Abstract:

The study is conducted primarily to identify the Grade Six pupils’ reading comprehension performance in Social Studies using informative text in Filipino and in English. Moreover, this also determined the difference between their comprehension performance in the subject using the first and the second language. Using the Quantitative Research Design, a total of 212 pupils participated in this study. Social Studies informative text and comprehension test both in Filipino and English to obtain the data were used. The comprehension test, being the most important tool of data gathering, was formulated by the researcher. To determine the quality of the tests, the researcher sought the help of the language experts in the field. These experts, checked, gave comments and suggestions for the improvement of the tests. After a series of revisions, the tests were finalized and were given to the participants. The results of comprehension tests in Filipino and English were utilized and analyzed using Mean, Standard Deviation and T-test statistical measures to determine if there is a significant difference in the pupils’ comprehension performance between L1 and L2. The results revealed that there is a difference in the pupils’ comprehension performance in Social Studies using the first and the second language, however the difference is not significant.

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Reading Comprehension Performance of Grade 6 Students in Social Studies using Informative Text in Filipino (L1) and English (L2)

1.0. INTRODUCTION As De La Salle Lipa’s response to the call of producing globally competitive graduates and in adherence to the DLSP standards, all the subject areas in the Grade School curriculum are being taught using the second language except in Filipino and Mother Tongue. In the Department of Education K-12 curriculum, the subject Social Studies is offered as Araling Panlipunan. This has to be taught in the classroom using the first language, Filipino. More so, the National Achievement Test (NAT) in the said subject taken by the Grade 6 pupils near the end of the school year definitely is given in Filipino. Students’ proficiency of the language affects their comprehension performance. This is supported by the research findings of Sadeghi, Everatt, Brigid and Rezaei (2014) which stated that linguistic comprehension is an important aspect of reading comprehension. Nikolov and Csapó (2010) found in their study that stronger relationships between reading comprehension in the L1 and L2 and other variables showing the complexity of the processes in early foreign language learning. This proves that the early acquisition of the foreign or second language has a great impact on their reading comprehension performance. Gelderen and Schoonen (2007) stated that a strong relationship between L1 and L2 reading comprehension and a strong effect of meta cognitive knowledge on L2 reading comprehension, although language-specific knowledge and fluency also contribute to L2 reading performance. According to Block (2012) proficient L2 readers performed similarly to proficient L1 readers; less proficient L2 readers performed similarly to less proficient L1 readers. Lee and Schallert (2012) said that a threshold level of language proficiency exists such that learners with low levels of L2 proficiency will show little relationship between their L1 and L2 reading ability whereas learners with higher levels of L2 proficiency will show a positive relationship between their L1 and L2 reading performance.

Conceptual Framework The study used the Input-Process-Output as its framework. The input is the formulated comprehension test both in L1 and L2 based on the informative text which are given to the students. The process is the critical analysis of the test results measuring the reading comprehension performance of the

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students both in Filipino and English. The output is the comparison of the students’ reading comprehension performance in L1 and L2 getting their significant difference.

It is based on the stated facts that the researcher decided to conduct this study on identifying the Grade 6 pupils’ reading comprehension performance in Social Studies using informative text both in Filipino and English. The result of this study will be used as one of the bases of the Social Studies department in coming up with the decision of changing or retaining the medium of instruction used in teaching the subject. This study aimed to identify the Grade 6 pupils’ reading comprehension performance in Social Studies using informative text in Filipino and English. Specifically, this study sought answers to the following questions: 1. What is the reading comprehension performance of Grade 6 pupils in Social Studies using the first language? 2. What is the reading comprehension performance of Grade 6 pupils in Social Studies using the second language? 3. Is there a significant difference in the reading comprehension performance of Grade 6 pupils in Social Studies between Filipino and English?

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Reading Comprehension Performance of Grade 6 Students in Social Studies using Informative Text in Filipino (L1) and English (L2)

This study is significant to the Social Studies department in its continuous response to the current trends and demands of the curriculum. This would somehow address the issue on the effectiveness of the medium of instruction used in teaching the subject in the Grade School. The result of this study will be used as an assessment and as a basis for changing the medium of instruction used in teaching the subject from English to Filipino or to retain the current practice.

2.0. METHODS Quantitative Research Design which is the systematic scientific investigation of data and their relationship was used in this study. The students’ reading comprehension performance in Social Studies using informative text in English and Filipino was identified and their significant difference was also determined. Social Studies informative text and Reading comprehension tests both in Filipino and English were the sources of data. The total population of Grade 6 pupils of S.Y. 2014-2015 which is 252 was chosen to be the respondents of this study. However, during the administration of the first test (English), there were pulled out pupils due to STCAA competition, so the researcher opted to have 212 respondents. Therefore, the same respondents were asked to take the second test (Filipino) after one month. The researcher selected the Social Studies informative text in the second language and translated it to first language. The comprehension test was formulated both in Filipino and English. After the translation and test preparation, validation by the experts in both fields was done. The researcher then conducted students’ orientation on the test before its administration. The English test was then given to the respondents, then after month, the students took the test in Filipino. The researcher collated the test results. Critical document analysis was employed using the following statistical measures: Mean, Standard Deviation (SD) and T-test. The researcher chose the Social Studies informative text in English. The text was then translated to Filipino. Ten comprehension test items about the text were formulated both in English and Filipino. Both the texts and the tests were validated by the experts in the respective fields. The tests both in Filipino and English were the major instruments used in this study. The collected data from the comprehension tests were measured through the use of Mean, Standard Deviation and T-test. The pupils’ comprehension performance in Social Studies both in English and Filipino were determined through the measured data.

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3.0. RESULTS There were ten (10) test items focusing on different reading comprehension skills which were used to identify the difference in Grade 6 students’ comprehension performance in Social Studies both in English and Filipino using informative text. These are: a)identifying true-false statements, b) noting details, c) sequencing events, d) getting the main idea, e) identifying supporting details, f) drawing conclusions, g) distinguishing fact and opinion, h) identifying cause and effect relationship, i) making inferences and j) predicting outcomes. Table 1 presents the data on students’ reading comprehension performance in Social Studies using the first language. Table 1 Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance in Social Studies using Informative Text in Filipino Item Comprehension Skills Number of Percentage Number of Percentage Number Students Students who who got the got the Correct Incorrect Answer Answer 1

Identifying True-False Statements

146

68.87

66

31.13

2

Noting Details

195

91.98

17

8.02

3

Sequencing Events

181

85.38

31

14.62

4

Getting the Main Idea

100

47.17

112

52.83

5

Identifying Supporting Details

95

44.81

117

55.19

6

Drawing Conclusions

64

30.19

148

69.81

7

Distinguishing Fact and Opinion

105

49.53

107

50.47

8

Identifying Cause and Effect Relationship

94

44.34

118

55.66

9

Making Inferences

106

50.00

106

50.00

10

Predicting Outcomes

113

53.30

99

46.70

Average

33

56.56

43.44

Reading Comprehension Performance of Grade 6 Students in Social Studies using Informative Text in Filipino (L1) and English (L2)

From the data shown in table 1, the skill on noting details has the highest number of respondents who got the correct answer which is195 out of 212 with a percentage of 91.98. On the other hand, the skill on drawing conclusions has the lowest number of respondents with the correct response which is 64 with a percentage of 30.19. Table 2 presents the data on students’ reading comprehension performance in Social Studies using the second language. Table 2 Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance in Social Studies using Informative Text in English Item Number

Number of Students who got the Correct Answer

Percentage

Number of Students who got the incorrect answer

Percentage

179

84.43

33

15.57

2

Identifying True-False Statements Noting Details

194

91.51

18

8.49

3

Sequencing Events

164

77.36

48

22.64

4

Getting the Main Idea

102

48.11

110

51.89

5

Identifying Supporting Details Drawing Conclusions

83

39.15

129

60.85

54

25.47

158

74.53

137

64.62

75

35.38

117

55.19

95

44.81

9

Distinguishing Fact and Opinion Identifying Cause and Effect Relationship Making Inferences

108

50.94

104

49.06

10

Predicting Outcomes

87

41.04

125

58.96

1

6 7 8

Comprehension Skills

Average

57.78

42.22

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Ms. Rosalinda D. Cornejo

From the data shown in table 2, the skill on noting details has the highest number of respondents who got the correct answer which is194 out of 212 with a percentage of 91.51. On the other hand, the skill on drawing conclusions has the lowest number of respondents with the correct response which is 54 with a percentage of 25.47. Table 3 shows the difference in the results of students’ comprehension test in Filipino (L1) and English (L2) Table 3. Difference in the results of examination in Filipino and English

Test

Computed t-value

p-value

Interpretation*

0.550203

0.582764

Not Significant

Filipino English *Not significant at 0.05, two-tailed test.

With a computed T of 0.550203, at level of significance of 0.05, with a p-value of 0.582764, table 3 shows that there is no significant difference in the students’ reading comprehension performance in both languages. Hence, the null hypothesis that there is a significant difference in the students’ reading comprehension performance in Social Studies using the first and the second language was rejected.

4.0. DISCUSSION The study was conducted primarily to identify the Grade Six pupils’ reading comprehension performance in Social Studies using informative text in Filipino (L1) and in English (L2). Moreover, this also determined the difference between their comprehension performance in the subject using the first and the second language. Utilizing the ten reading comprehension skills, the students’ performance was measured both in L1 and L2. The following are the descriptions of these comprehension skills: a) Identifying true-false statement is a skill in which the reader has to decide whether the given information is true or not as stated in the text. b) Noting Details is a reading comprehension skill that involves picking out, from a piece of text, the particular piece or pieces of information to achieve a given purpose such as answering a question in a test.

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Reading Comprehension Performance of Grade 6 Students in Social Studies using Informative Text in Filipino (L1) and English (L2)

c) Sequencing events is a comprehension skill which means to put something in order from first to last. Sequence of events in a story is the order in which the events happen. d) The Main Idea is what the paragraph, article, or story is mostly about. e) The Details are the supporting sentences that give important information about the main idea. f) Drawing Conclusions is taking clues which the author has given the readers and use what they already know from their own experiences to help them understand what is happening in the story. g) Distinguishing facts from opinion is to be able to understand what is real from what is someone’s point of view or thought. h) Identifying Cause and Effect Relationship is making connections with why events happen. It helps readers to think about what will, or might happen because of something else and to make better choices. i) Making inferences is the process of inferring things based on what is already known. It is reading between the lines or just looking carefully at the facts and coming to conclusions. j) Predicting Outcomes is telling the possible event to happen next or results based on the given idea, sentence or phrase.

It was found out that there is a difference in the pupils’ reading comprehension performance between the first and second language; however, this is not significant. Their comprehension performance is a little bit higher in English with an average of 57.78 than in Filipino with an average of 56.56. This proves that the medium of instruction whether first or second language has no effect to the students’ reading comprehension performance, therefore the given null hypothesis is rejected. The study also revealed that the pupils showed their highest comprehension performance in noting details both in L1 and L2. On the other hand, their lowest comprehension performance in both languages is in drawing conclusions.

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Ms. Rosalinda D. Cornejo

5.0. RECOMMENDATIONS The researcher recommended the following based on the findings of this study: 1. More learning activities that would enhance the students’ reading comprehension performance must be given across learning strands. 2. The Social Studies Department can use the result of this study to further enhance the curriculum towards achieving better result in National Achievement Test (NAT). 3. The use of first language (Filipino) as the medium of instruction in teaching Social Studies be implemented in adherence to D.O. # 31 s. 2012.

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Reading Comprehension Performance of Grade 6 Students in Social Studies using Informative Text in Filipino (L1) and English (L2)

REFERENCES

Block E. (2012). See how they read: comprehension monitoring of L1 and L2 readers. Retrieved October 9, 2014, from http://web.ebscohost.com. Gelderen, A., & Schoonen, R. (2007). Development of adolescent reading comprehension in language 1 and language 2: a longitudinal analysis of constituent components. Retrieved October 25, 2014, from http://web.ebscohost.com. Geraldez, A.M.A. (2011). The Filipino race. Quezon City: Ephesians Publishing. Lee, J. & Schallert, D.L. (2012). The relative contribution of L2 language proficiency and L1 reading ability to L2 reading performance: a test of the threshold hypothesis in an EFL context. Retrieved November 9, 2014, from http://web.ebscohost.com. Nikolov, M. (2009). The relationship between reading skills in early English as a foreign language. Retrieved October 16, 2014, from http://web.ebscohost.com. Sadeghi, A., Everatt, J., McNeill, B., & Rezaei, A. (2014).Text processing in English-Persian bilingual children: A bilingual view on the Simple Model of Reading. Retrieved October 22, 2014 from http://www.google.com.ph.

Rosalinda D. Cornejo obtained her Master’s Degree in Language Teaching from Philippine Christian University in 2012.She has been a Grade School teacher since 1996. She also served as the Year Level Moderator for five years. Currently, she is the Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator. As a researcher, her interests include multilingual and multicultural education.

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Ms. Analiza A. Frane

Reading Profile and Motivation of DLSL Grade VII Students By: Analiza A. Frane

Abstract:

School

Library facilitates a support system for the academic excellence of

students through its programs and collection. Thus, the Integrated School Learning Resource Center of De La Salle Lipa looked into the reading preferences in English and motivation of 340 Grade VII students. The participants were chosen randomly and they answered a questionnaire which yielded data on their reading profile such as reading preferences, number of hours spent on leisure reading and access to reading materials. Also, an adapted questionnaire known as “Motivation for Reading English Questionnaire” (MREQ) was utilized to determine factors that motivate the participants to read based on the following dimensions: a) Intrinsic motivation; b) Extrinsic social value; c) Extrinsic drive to excel; and d) Extrinsic Academic compliance’. The researcher employed a descriptive method of research. Findings of the study can be used in developing student-based collection, pertinent library reading activities, and reading and library materials promotion suited for Grade VII students.

1.0. INTRODUCTION

For most English Language Learners (ELL), reading in English is different from reading in the native language. Basically, they found it more challenging especially in their reading speed, comprehension, vocabulary and word recognition (Hendricks, 2013). Unfamiliar words hinder them to understand their readings which do not only slow their reading speed but also decreases their reading interest. More so, now that some private schools are implementing Understanding by Design (UBD) approach, students’ understanding of the lesson is not only dependent on answering the test questions correctly, but on their ability to explain their answers. Aside from critical thinking skills and grammar skills, students would need more vocabulary words to be able to explain their answer particularly in an essay form. Another is on their

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Reading Profile and Motivation of DLSL Grade VII Students

ability to grasp test, instruction and mathematical word problems in English which most of them find difficult (Bautista & Mulligan, 2010). Familiarity with different English words and sentence structure which can be developed through reading habit is necessary for students to cope with this new system in Philippine education. Leisure reading is vital especially among ELL students because reading for classroom purposes is not sufficient (Nippold, et. al, 2005) and that leisure reading is significant to students’ academic success such as reading achievement and strengthen students’ content-area literacy (Spear-Swerling, Brucker, and Alfano, 2010). Conversely, leisure reading habit among teens dropped (Scholastic, 2008) due to other activities, particularly computer games/online games (Nippold et.al, 2005). It is critical because teens should be reading varied reading materials frequently which will partly help them in coping up with life challenges. Psychologists say teenagers face an identity crisis and are preoccupied thinking the possibilities of life. Also, it is quite timely that the habit of reading is being popular among their age because they may be able to pass it to their friends since teens seek popularity and are influenced by their friends (Henson, K. t. & Eller, B.F., 1999). Timing is essential in creating the culture of reading especially among Grade VII students because interactions around reading materials is one of the best ways of developing more complex language skills necessary for cognitive learning of students (cited in Goswamie, U. 2015). This will prepare them for their higher years in high school as well as in college because the more words they know, the more they will be able to read comprehensibly at a higher level. This is referred to as “Matthew effect”: the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” which is also true with the difference between good and bad readers (Stanovich, 1986). For good readers, they read more and become more proficient readers. While poor readers read less because they are less skilled and do not enjoy reading. The school library facilitates assistance among teens and reluctant readers. The 21st century school library serves as reading a powerhouse, an encourager and advisor (Museums, Libraries & Archives Council, 2011). It gives high regard on students’ access to reading materials and inculcating reading interest among its patrons. School librarians’ advocacy to promote love for reading is evident with different activities such as organizing book club, storytelling, book fair, inviting authors and the like. Inculcating the pleasure of reading among students is one of DLSL LRC’s support in attaining academic excellence. Engaging them to read would need understanding their unique reading interest and motivation through assessment. Thus, in order to facilitate pertinent reading promotion, the researcher would like to know what and how to motivate the Grade VII students. Specifically, the study sought answers to the following questions: 1. What is the reading profile of Grade VII students in terms of reading preferences (types, genres and media format), and reading habit in terms of number of hours spent on leisure reading, and how they obtain their reading materials?

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Ms. Analiza A. Frane

2. What factors under adapted Motivation for Reading English Questionnaire (MREQ) are more likely to motivate the respondents to read and what are their level of motivation? 3. Is there significant difference on students’ level of reading motivation when they are grouped according to reading profile such as reading preferences (types, genres, and media format), and reading habit in terms of hour spent on reading, and how they obtain their reading materials?

Objectives of the study Generally, the study will determine the reading preferences in English and motivation of Grade 7 students of De La Salle Lipa. Specifically, it aimed to: 1. Identify the reading profile of students in terms of reading preferences (types, genres and media format), and reading habit in terms of number of hours spent on leisure reading, and how they obtain their reading materials. 2

Determine the motivating factors in reading English materials among students and their level of motivation.

3. Determine the significant difference on students’ level of reading motivation when they are grouped according to reading profile such as reading preferences (types, genres and media format), reading habit in terms of number of time spent on leisure reading and how they obtain their reading materials

The significance of the Study This study will contribute significantly to the literature in the sense that it does not only provide the current trend on the 21st century readers’ motivation and reading preferences, but the study also will provide data from a sample outside the developed countries where most of the existing studies were previously conducted. It will provide information to school administrators, Grade 7 teachers, school librarians, and students on the reading preferences in English and motivation of Grade VII students. For school administrators, the study will aid in developing and implementing policies that will support all the endeavors of the library in promoting love for reading among students. It maybe but not limited to issues on the budget given to the library’s collection, facilities, information technology infrastructure, personnel trainings and the likes.

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Reading Profile and Motivation of DLSL Grade VII Students

The findings will also provide Grade 7 teachers with the information about reading motivation and reading preferences of students. Through this they can have an idea of the actual factors that will make their students perform well. This will enable them to consider their reading preferences on their assignments, reports, and other tasks to get their maximum participation in class. School librarians in particular, will also benefit from this study because they will have a thorough knowledge of the unique reading interest and motivational factors among students. Such knowledge will serve as the framework in developing pertinent reading motivation activities and promotion. It will also serve as a tool in selection/acquisition of library materials suited for this age group. Finally, the students will benefit from all the efforts/undertakings in encouraging them to find pleasure in reading to become lifelong readers and learners.

Scope and Limitations This study focused on determining the reading preferences in English and motivation of Grade VII students of De La Salle Lipa. Among the high school students, Grade VII classes were selected because of the necessity to enhance the reading habit among the students in preparation for their higher years in high school as well as in college. Also, the respondents’ accessibility and ease of facilitation in the administration of the survey is also considered. The researcher, being a junior high school librarian used the 20 minutes of the students’ library orientation program inside the library. The result of the study was based on the responses to the survey questionnaire.

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework Figure 1 shows the framework presented by Komiyama, R. (2009), which was adapted in part to suit the objectives of this study. His study on motivation in reading English as a second language (ESL) of college students was anchored in the context of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) by Ryan & Deci, 2000. This theory states that students’ behavior (reading behavior) can be explained by extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is considered a less self-determined form of motivation. People who are extrinsically motivated do not demonstrate innate desires to take on activities appealing to them, rather, they are moved by factors such as external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and integrated regulation. Figure1 shows the degree of internalization along the continuum of SDT, external regulation is the least selfdetermined type of extrinsic motivation. Externally regulated individuals keep doing certain task to gain reward or to avoid punishment (Deci & Ryan, 2008a; Rigby et al.,1992). Next, introjected regulation is characterized by an individual who avoids feelings of anxiety or (to experience feelings) of pride (Deci & Ryan,

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Ms. Analiza A. Frane

2008a; Ryan & Deci, 2002). Another, is identified regulation which takes place when an individual has adapted a particular activity as personally important and has accepted its value (Deci & Ryan, 2008a; Rigby et al., 1992; Ryan & Deci, 2002).Lastly, the integrated regulation which is the most self-determined form of extrinsic motivation. It happens when the value of an activity is consciously accepted and assimilated within the context of individual’s life goals and relationship (Ryan & Deci, 2000b, 2002). This theory suggests that it is necessary to enhance internalization of extrinsic motivation among students by creating the most favorable learning environment. This will help students integrate extrinsic motives into self-directed behaviors; hence, students become more self-determined and will excel academically. Intrinsic motivation is a more self-determined form of motivation which is inherent in human beings. It maintains the enthusiasm to discover, learn and compete. People who are intrinsically motivated are proactive in their environment and find pleasure of doing certain things even without reinforcement or external rewards. In developing individual’s intrinsic motivation, SDT suggests that instructional environment should support students’ competence, autonomous and relatedness. Competence, the perceived ability of an individual to perform well; autonomy, sense of control over one’s own behavior; relatedness is the sense of belongingness and connection with others. Also, this theory posits that educators should be careful in giving reward to students because the intrinsic motivation toward target activities will likely lose if they receive rewards that represent external control over their behaviors (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Another essential concept considered is anchored on the study of Wang & Guthrie (2004) on eight dimensions of reading motivation which are: 1. Curiosity which is the desire to learn about particular topic of interest; 2. Involvement, the pleasure gained from reading a well-written book, an article, or Web site about an interesting topic; 3. Preference for a challenge, the satisfaction from mastering or assimilating complex ideas in text; 4. Competition is the desire to outperform others in reading; 5. Compliance, the desire to read because of an external goal or requirement; 6. Grades is the desire to receive good grades and to be favorably evaluated by the teacher; 7. Recognition, the gratification from receiving a tangible form of recognition for success in reading; 8. Social sharing a satisfaction from sharing the meanings gained from reading with peers. These eight dimensions of reading motivation were reclassified by Komiyama (2009) into two concepts, an intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Associated to intrinsic motivation are the curiosity, involvement and preference for a challenge. It indicates that readers who are intrinsically motivated would want to gain knowledge through reading materials about topics of their own interest, find joy in reading them and the satisfaction gained from understanding complex text. Extrinsic motivation includes competition, compliance, grades, recognition and social sharing. It signifies that readers, who are extrinsically motivated

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Reading Profile and Motivation of DLSL Grade VII Students

to read comply with the set requirements, surpass others, get good grades, be recognized and be able to share their readings with others.

Amotivation

External Regulation

Extrinsic Motivation Figure Identified Introjected Regulation Regulation

Less self-determined

Integrated Regulation

Intrinsic Motivation

More self-determined

Extrinsic Academic Compliance Extrinsic Test Compliance

Extrinsic Drive to Excel

Extrinsic Social Value

Intrinsic Motivation

Five Motivation Factors of Reading in English as the Second Language (ESL)

Figure 1. Motivation Factors of Reading In English as a Second Language (ESL) with in the context of SDT (SelfDetermined Theory) (Adapted from Komiyama, 2009).

As stated previously, the framework of Komiyama, R. (2009) was only partly adapted as the concept of extrinsic test compliance was not considered in this study. Rather, it was merged with the extrinsic academic compliance which is more applicable to high school students. The four motivation factors presented here will be the basis in describing high school students’ motivation dimension, such as intrinsic motivation, extrinsic drive to excel, extrinsic academic compliance and extrinsic social value. Intrinsic motivation includes the desire to learn about a topic of interest through reading English, pleasure gained from such activity and the satisfaction from mastering a complex text in English. Extrinsic drive to excel is the desire to obtain evidence of success in ESL by outperforming others and/or receiving a tangible form of recognition from teachers, family and friends. Extrinsic Academic Compliance is the desire to successfully complete assignment, perform well on essay tests in English and obtain good grades. Extrinsic social sharing is the desire to share the meanings gained from reading in English with family and friends.

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Ms. Analiza A. Frane

Students’ Reading Profile

Students’ Perceived Reading Motivation

 Reading preferences  Number of hours spent on leisure reading  Access to the reading materials

   

Intrinsic motivation Extrinsic social value Extrinsic Drive to Excel Extrinsic Academic Compliance

Figure 2. Conceptual Framework Figure 2 shows how variables under study relate to each other; the independent variable is students’ reading profile such as reading preferences (types, genres, format), number of hours spent on leisure reading, and how they obtain their reading materials. The said variables determined the level of students’ motivation dimensions in reading English such as Intrinsic motivation, Extrinsic social value, Extrinsic Drive to Excel and Extrinsic Academic Compliance.

2.0. METHODS

The participants in this study were 340 grade seven students whose ages range from 12-14 years old enrolled at De La Salle Lipa during SY 2015-2016. A survey questionnaire entitled “Reading profile and motivation of De La Salle Lipa Grade VII students” consisting of two parts was used. The first part is the students’ reading profile such as reading preferences (types, genres and format), number of hours spent on reading and how they obtain their reading materials. The last part is comprised of a questionnaire entitled as “Motivation for Reading English Questionnaire” by Komiyama, R. (2013) which was adapted and modified to suit the needs of the study. The questionnaire was also validated before it was administered to the participants. A four point Likert scale was used to rate the respondents’ motivation for reading into four major constructs as: Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Drive to Excel, Extrinsic Academic Compliance and Extrinsic Social Reasons for Reading. The following rating was used:

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Reading Profile and Motivation of DLSL Grade VII Students

Very Different from me A little different from me A little like me A lot like me

1 2 3 4

Permission to conduct the study from the school administrators was sought. After necessary coordination to the concerned personnel, the researcher administered the survey during students’ library orientation inside the library last June 15-22, 2016. The researcher guided the respondents throughout the administration of the survey. The study used statistical measures of frequencies, percentages and standard deviation. Students’ reading motivation was analyzed using the weighted mean and standard deviation. The overall mean score was used to identify the students’ level of reading motivation in English. The following statistical tools were applied in the data collected so that proper interpretation could be derived using the SPSS version 11. Frequency distribution. This was computed to describe the students’ reading profile, such as gender, reading preferences, spent time on reading, and sources of their reading materials. Weighted mean. This was used in determining the respondents’ reading motivation in English. Likewise the degree of respondents reading motivation in English with the resulting weighted mean will be interpreted as follows (Komiyama, 2013): 3.4– 4. 0 – Very high motivation 2.6 – 3.9 – High motivation 1.8 – 2.59 – Low motivation 1.0 – 1.70 – Very low motivation To determine the significant difference in the reading profile and motivation when respondents are grouped according to profile, t test and ANOVA were used. The researcher used t test for comparing the means of two samples (or treatments), even if they have different numbers of replicates. In simple terms, the t-test compares the actual difference between two means in relation to the variation in the data (expressed as the standard deviation of the difference between the means). On the other hand, ANOVA compares the actual difference between more than two means in relation to the variation in the data. For this case, ANOVA was used to check the significant difference in the reading

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Ms. Analiza A. Frane

attitude of the students when they are grouped according to time spent in reading, sources of reading materials and reading preferences as the researcher compared more than two samples.

3.0. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Reading Profile The reading profile of the participants included the number of hours spent on leisure reading, types of reading materials, themes/genres preferences, media format, and access to the reading materials.

Hours Spent on Leisure Reading The frequency distribution of participants by the number of hours spent is presented in Table 1. The highest number of hours spent is 21 and above, the Very heavy reader and the least is 0, the Non-Reader (Reading Partnership, 2000).

Table 1 Distribution of Respondents According to Number of Hours Spent on Leisure Reading No of hours spent in one week 21 + (Very heavy reader) 11- 20 (Heavy reader) 6-10 (Medium-heavy reader) 3-5 (Medium reader) 1-2 (Light-medium reader)